The Open Brethren form independent, autonomous assemblies and
the name, "Open," is given to them to distinguish them from "Exclusive
Brethren," with whom they share historical roots. The division
of the Plymouth Brethren into the Open
Brethren and Exclusive Brethren took place in
1848 [1] and has
been well documented. The Open Brethren are committed to missionary work and hold
that the Holy Bible is the first authority in
matters of faith and practice. Each assembly (or congregation) is
independent of the others in doctrinal matters, yet there is a high
degree of communication and cooperation between those who share
similar doctrine and practice. Open Brethren assemblies vary from
tight gatherings which only extend fellowship to those who have
first left the denominations to very loose gatherings which receive
any stranger without question into fellowship. [2]

The buildings associated with the open brethren are usually
called, "Gospel Chapel," "Gospel Hall," "Bible Chapel," "Christian
Assembly," or other similar terms.

Contents

Beliefs

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Justification by faith

Justification by faith alone
(sola fide)
states that it is by grace through faith alone that Christians
receive salvation and not through any works of their own (see
Ephesians 2:8, Romans 3:23). Open Brethren have a strong emphasis
on the concept of salvation. The brethren teach that the
consequence of human sin is condemnation to eternal death in hell.
Christ's death on the cross paid
sin's penalty and his resurrection is evidence that eternal life is
available to any who will have it. The only requirements being that
each individual willfully repents of sin, accepts the
substitutionary payment of his own sin by faith in Christ's death
and declares that Jesus is Lord (see John 3:14-18 and Acts
10:34-43).

Believer's
baptism

The Open Brethren teach that baptism plays no role in salvation,
and is only properly performed after a person professes Jesus
Christ as Lord and Saviour. Baptism is an outward expression
that symbolizes the inward cleansing or remission of a person's
sins that has already taken place at salvation. Baptism is also a
public identification of that person with Jesus Christ. In some
cases, an individual is considered a member of an assembly once he
or she is baptized.

Open Brethren emphasize baptism by full immersion. This mode is
preferred for its parallel imagery to the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ. Immersion baptism is also seen as a
practice established by the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the
Baptist and is therefore Biblically based. Baptism may occur in any
body of water that will allow full immersion, though many Brethren
assembly halls will have a baptistry. Baptismal services are
celebratory and are often linked to an evangelical meeting.

Leadership

One of the most defining elements of the Open Brethren is the
rejection of the concept of clergy. Rather, in keeping with the
doctrine of the Priesthood of all
believers, they view all Christians as being ordained by God to
serve and are therefore ministers. However, some observers believe
that too much authority is given to elders within the Open Brethren
who are, in effect, a self-elected, self-propagating oligarchy
which hinders the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers from
being practised. [3]

Generally, Open Brethren recognize two Scriptural offices, those
of elder and deacon. The office of pastor, common in some evangelical churches, is usually
considered to be the same as that of elder, and not a separate
office. The office of overseer or bishop is always considered to be the same as
that of elder or presbyter. The prevalent view among Open
Brethren is that these offices are limited to men only, following
the model of Christ and His apostles and because the Bible says that in
the assembly women are not to "teach or have authority over men" (1
Timothy 2:12-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35). The elder is also
required to be male according to 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6 (the
Greek translated as "husband of one wife" here literally means: "a
one woman man" expressing that an elder is to be a male).
This is, however, a controversial issue among assemblies, and since
each assembly is free to make its own decisions on such matters, it
is not uncommon today to see women taking positions of leadership
(especially in assemblies with relatively young memberships).

Neither of these roles are served with pay in most cases, but
larger assemblies may sometimes employ a paid bible teacher or
evangelist if specific circumstances make it necessary.

Elder

The Open Brethren believe in a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23;
15:6,23; 20:17; Philippians 1:1) - men meeting the Biblical
qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. This
position is also taken in some Baptist churches, especially Reformed
Baptists, and by the Churches of Christ. It is understood
that elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) and are
recognised as meeting the qualifications by the assembly and by
previously existing elders, whereas in the time of the
establishment of the first New Testament assemblies it was either
an apostle's duty or his directly appointed delegate's
responsibility who ordained elders (for example: Timothy or Titus).
This original order being consistent with the Christian concept
that authority comes from above and does not arise from men.

Deacon

The main role of the "deacon" is to assist the elders with members'
needs. Deacons are usually chosen from members who have
demonstrated exceptional Christian piety. (see 1 Timothy 3:8-12).
However, in many meetings there is no official list of deacons, the
work of deaconship being shared by anyone willing to give a helping
hand in a particular task.

Mission
work

Open Brethren are noted for their commitment to missionary work. In the
earliest days of the Plymouth Brethren movement, Anthony
Norris Groves became one of the earliest 'faith
missionaries', travelling to Baghdad in 1829 to preach the gospel and the
Bible without the aid of an established missionary society[4]. Many
later Plymouth Brethren missionaries took the same stance, and
included notable missionary pioneers such as:

While the majority of Open Brethren missionaries do not belong
to a missionary society, there are a number of supporting
organisations that give help and advice for missionaries: in the
UK, Echoes
of Service magazine[1], Medical
Missionary News[2] and the Lord's
Work Trust[3] are notable
organisations. Today, missionaries are found all over the world,
with high concentrations in Zambia and Southern Africa, Brazil, India, Western Europe and South East Asia.

Kerala
Brethren

An important stream of the Open Brethren is the Kerala
Brethren. Kerala is a small state in India, but has more than
500 Open or Plymouth Brethren Assemblies. Brethren members believe
that these assemblies are the result of an independent movement of
the Holy Spirit in
India. Eventually the Plymouth Brethren and the Kerala Brethren
recognized the similarities in both the movements and thus the
Kerala Brethren came to be identified as a sub-set of the Open
Brethren.[6]